Naver posted double-digit first-quarter revenue growth on expanding commerce and artificial intelligence-driven businesses, and said it will move to strengthen its commerce competitiveness in the second half, including introducing membership-based unlimited free shipping.
Naver said Wednesday that first-quarter consolidated revenue rose to 3.2411 trillion won and operating profit to 541.8 billion won. Revenue increased 16.3% from a year earlier and operating profit rose 7.2%.
The company said results were driven by growth in core businesses through AI integration and an expansion of its consumer-to-consumer, or C2C, operations. It said it maintained profitability despite infrastructure investment to bolster AI capabilities.
Naver also reorganized its business structure, shifting from five areas — search platform, commerce, fintech, content and enterprise — to three pillars: Naver Platform, Financial Platform and Global Challenge.
Revenue by segment was 1.8398 trillion won for Naver Platform, 459.7 billion won for Financial Platform and 941.6 billion won for Global Challenge.
Naver Platform revenue rose 14.7% from a year earlier. Advertising revenue grew 9.3%, which the company attributed to its AI-based targeting enhancement solution, “AdBoost,” adding that AI accounted for more than half of advertising revenue growth.
Service revenue climbed on commerce, rising 35.6% from a year earlier, led by Naver Plus Store, membership and N Delivery, the company said.
Naver Plus Store’s app has become a key transaction channel, CEO Choi Soo-yeon said on an earnings conference call. “Transaction volume on the Naver Plus Store app rose 28% from the previous quarter, outpacing overall growth,” Choi said, adding that the purchase conversion rate also increased meaningfully.
She said time spent in the app has more than doubled since its launch, and that its purchase conversion rate is 84% higher than on the web.
Naver said it is accelerating efforts to improve delivery competitiveness. “We will push to convert key products to N Delivery and expand direct fulfillment contracts,” Choi said. “In the second half, we plan to introduce unlimited free shipping linked to membership.”
Financial Platform revenue rose 18.9% from a year earlier to 459.7 billion won. Naver Pay payment volume in the first quarter totaled 24.2 trillion won, up 23.4% from a year earlier.
Naver said it plans to strengthen its online-to-offline competitiveness by linking offline payment data with place data, centered on “Npay Connect.”
Global Challenge revenue rose 18.4% from a year earlier to 941.6 billion won, driven by growth in its C2C business. C2C revenue — including Poshmark, Kream, Soda and Wallapop — jumped 57.7% from a year earlier, the company said. The enterprise business also grew 18.8% on expansion of AI and digital twin operations.
“Naver is a platform that holds search, commerce and payment infrastructure in a single flow,” Choi said. “Through our action-oriented AI strategy, we will strengthen both user experience and monetization while expanding global business opportunities.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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